Turning Water to Coffee
by hiroroto
Summary: But one day, a boy you've never seen before comes in and he's got the most gorgeous smile and his hair looks so soft. When he approaches the counter he smells like library books, which is kind of weird but you like it. You think it suits him very well. [tsunatachi coffee shop AU. also posted on tumblr and ao3!]
1. Chapter 1

**OH my god. im writing tsunatachi again. i should write one of my other ships but i find these two much easier to write about for some reason? also what the heck is up with me a second person POV. haha whatever enjoy this gay ass generic coffee shop au**

Turning Water to Coffee

You never really liked coffee. But there's no room to be picky now that you live in a big city that is not even _close_ to the ocean. There is no way you could teach surfing lessons or work in a surf shop like you used to. It's now winter and apparently coffee shops are the places to be during this time. It means more tips, which means more money. Money that you kind of _need_. You need to pay bills to stay in your apartment that your parents hardly help with paying, even though they're the ones that "sent you off to learn responsibility" but you're pretty sure that's just sugarcoating the reality that they kicked you out. You don't think you did anything wrong, but that's how it always was with them.

While it's a struggle to pay rent sometimes, you enjoy being on your own. You never had a good relationship with your parents. But one thing you _do_ miss is the ocean. You miss the salty scent of the water, the sound of waves crashing and the sensation of the tide tickling your toes. You miss the warm sand and the beautiful reflection of the moon off the ocean at night, you miss how nice it was and it calmed you. You miss surfing. You miss it all. But things don't always go your way, and you'll just have to look forward to Spring so you can go out and visit and get to know the beach once again. Catch up with it like an old friend.

For now, though, you work in a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop where the boss is grumpy and you get cranky customers that have some sort of caffeine addiction. You are very glad you don't like coffee because the lack of it for some people seems to cause such a terrible change in mood. But one day, a boy you've never seen before comes in and he's got the most gorgeous smile and his hair looks so _soft_. When he approaches the counter he smells like library books, which is kind of weird but you like it. You think it suits him very well.

The first time he's there, you almost drop his cup and your hand trembles as you write his name on it. His name is Tachimukai, you learn. He likes his coffee completely black and it baffles you because he doesn't really look like the type of guy that like his coffee black. You could not even imagine drinking coffee like that, the only time you can stand it is if there is a large amount of cream and sugar in it. You have to give some credit to this stranger that goes by the name of Tachimukai because the first time you tried coffee straight-up black you spit it out and had to drink at least 6 cups of water.

As you hand him his drink, you smile and decide to strike up some conversation. "So you drink your coffee black? You don't really look the part!" you say, trying to be funny, or well you don't really know what you're trying to be. He frowns though, and you take a mental note that you are not good at flirting(if you could even call it that right now) with boys like you do with girls. But you are Tsunami Jousuke and you do not give up that easily. So you quickly add "not that it's bad, props to you, actually. I could never drink it like that, it takes some real guts." And then he smiles and you feel relief sweep over yourself because you want him to come back and if you leave a good impression on him, he might just do that.

"I guess it's an acquired taste...I started drinking it to impress my friends when I was 12 or something, and then I grew to like it. But thanks for the compliment, I guess," he said a little sheepishly, and you nod with a big dumb grin. You hope you don't look too stupid but you know that it's probably the case. There is silence, and you try and think of something the say that doesn't sound stupid but it's kind of hard right now.

"What's your name?" you blurt out as he's about to turn around and leave, but he stops and turns around to face you. He's holding back laughter and it takes you a second to realize why. He did _just_ tell you his name about 10 minutes ago when you wrote it on the cup. You're about to explain yourself but he interjects before you can make yourself look even _more_ stupid.

"My name is Tachimukai Yuuki. I'll probably seen you again soon, finals week is coming soon so I'm going to need all the coffee I can digest. I'll see you later, Tsunami-san."

You stare dumbly at him as he walks out, and you start to blush because how in the world did he know your name? And of course, in the frenzy of your emotions, you had forgotten that you are wearing your name tag that _of course_ says your name. You are on a roll of feeling incredibly stupid today.

It seems that Tachimukai is true to his word, because he starts taking frequent visits to the coffee shop. Each time he visits you learn something new about him. You learn that he's 18 and it's his first semester in college. You learn that he wants to become a kindergarten teacher when he graduates. You learn he's more of a dog person than a cat person, and you also learn you have a big crush on this frequent customer that you spend time talking to when he visits.

You think about maybe asking him out. After all, you've barely told him about yourself. Not that he doesn't give you the opportunity, but more so it's because you don't think that talking about your life while you work is very productive or ideal. You catch your boss giving you a dirty look when you slack off too much so you avoid putting the topic of the conversation on yourself. Besides, you are much more interested in Tachimukai than you are about discussing your own life.

So one day, you decide to go for it. You go through the usual routine-he orders his cup of coffee, black and plain, and you lean against the counter and talk with him. You plan on this conversation going smoothly, but right when you open your mouth, you ask him in a trembling voice if he wants to go out with you. You don't sound very smooth or cool with how your cheeks are heated and your sudden hardship with forming coherent sentences. But he smiles, and nods.

"Yes, I'd love to. How about tomorrow?" he asks, and you feel like you could go outside and dance in the streets because he said _yes_. Though that wouldn't be a good idea of course, you'd just get hit by a car or something.

"Y-yeah! Tomorrow is, uh, really good. Is seven PM good for you? We can get some breakfast-I mean some dinner, or something. I'll give you my number," you manage to say before he hands you his phone to punch in your contact info. Once you return the phone to him, he goes on his way and you swear in the midst of your own wave of feelings, you saw him blushing too.


	2. Chapter 2

**here's chapter two FINALLY oh my god**

Chapter 2

It's only 12 pm, and you're already nervous. You've been on dates before, yeah, but usually it was just a friend-date. This could even be a friend-date. You could just be overreacting, actually you _are_ overreacting but you can't help it. Tachimukai is adorable and friendly and oh how you'd _love_ to kiss him. You've heard that one saying though-don't kiss someone on the first date. You scoff a bit at the thought, does anyone even listen to that saying? You know there are many cases you don't kiss on the first date, but you assume there are exceptions. You are thinking too much about this, you hardly think he would want to kiss you yet, anyways. Yet.

You sit around all day, you feel like you are sweating more than usual, and you feel like you are just going to blow up from the anticipation. You don't even know what you are supposed to wear. Something casual? Something semi-formal? You have no clue what you are going to do. You can't sit around anymore, so you head to your closet and search for something that might be a good in-between sort of look. You never realized you were so low on anything other than t-shirts and shorts. You take note you should go out and buy some more pants, since you only have 3 pairs. It is pretty cold out now, anyways.

You settle for a light blue collared shirt you didn't even know you had and a pair of nice jeans. Not torn up and faded looking like most of your pants are. As you turn to look in the mirror, you ponder on the idea of doing something with your hair. But you hardly dwindle on that topic because you know doing something different with your hair never really works out. Though you might be able to tie it back a bit, that might look nice. Luckily you have some rubber bands nearby so you tie your hair back and you think you look pretty good. Actually, you think you're pretty damn _hot_ like this. Maybe a bit egotistical, but you're relieved because you were thinking you were losing some confidence in yourself because of how much of a mess you are thinking about this date.

You put on a large amount of deodorant because you know you will be sweating up a storm despite the cold weather. You search your apartment for that cologne you stole from your dad awhile back and you spray a bit on yourself. Not enough to overdo it, but just enough to at least catch the scent. You take a deep breath before grabbing your keys and a jacket and heading to your car. You just hope you don't crash on the way to his house because you are trembling with the excitement and anxiety rushing through you.

You notice you're kind of early while you're driving, and you'd be embarrassed to arrive there earlier than you panned, so you stop by the grocery store because you're pretty sure they have flowers there...or something. You look at the pretty bouquets and then debate if that'd be overdoing it a bit. So you settle on getting him a single red tulip because it looks pretty and you think he'd like it. Hopefully. Probably. People like pretty flowers, you just hope he's not allergic to tulips.

When you finally get there, you stand at the door for 5 minutes, trying to pick up the courage to ring the doorbell. You wonder if he lives with his parents, you start to panic because what if his dad answers the door? You hold to flower behind your back for now just incase, and you finally ring the damn doorbell. Now all you could do it wait.

Only a moment later, Tachimukai opens the door and you are _so_ glad that it isn't one of his parents. You look at him and he's wearing a polo shirt and...khaki pants. He pulls it off incredibly though, you admit. You actually think he looks great like that. You quickly remember you are holding a tulip behind your back and you waste no time handing it to him, your face as red at the flower you are holding.

"I uh, got this for you! I was just at the grocery store and saw it and thought it looked nice, so..." you say as he takes it, and he admires it and you're glad he likes it. He doesn't seem allergic to it, no rashes are forming and he smiles big. You like when he smiles like that, you love the way his cheeks curl up and his eyes light up and now he is grabbing your hand as he pulls you inside. You think he said something about putting it in a vase but you were too caught up in your cluttered thoughts to be sure.

You look around, his home seems kind of nice. A little small, but cozy. He comes out of the kitchen and you smile and rub your arm nervously before you both head to the car. You hope there isn't any awkward silence during the car ride, you don't know if you could handle that mentally.

"So, where are we going, Tsunami-san?" he asks and you kind of _just_ realized you have not thought of where you were going to go for dinner. You just shrug, though, trying to play it off as no big deal. You can't let him think you are a big dork. Keep it cool.

"I was actually wondering where you wanted to go. So, what are you feeling up to?" you ask, complimenting yourself internally, because that was a good save. You might be able to actually get through this without slipping up.

"Hm..." he rubs the back of his head and looks thoughtful, then he shrugged as well. "There's this good pizza place nearby. We could go there?" He suggests, and you nod quickly. That was much easier than you thought it'd be. You figure you might need to figure out something to do after dinner, like go out...somewhere. You'll figure that out when time comes.

He tells you the directions and it's hard to concentrate on the road and listen to the directions and think about how cute he looks right now and how you'd like to kiss him. But by some miracle, you make it to the restaurant in one piece and you didn't even _almost_ crash. That took some really good skills, so you mentally pat yourself on the back. You both get out of the car, and head towards the building that had that heavenly scent of, well, pizza.

It's a small building, but it's kind of homely. You working in a small coffee shop so it's not like it's any big change, but you're not here working and you are on a date with a cute boy that is looking so...intensely at the menu. You already know what you want, so you wait for him to decide, his eyes glued to the options. It's kind of odd, you think. Seeing as Tachimukai goes here often, you would think he would know what he wants instantly. Maybe he's just the type of guy that wants to try something new once in awhile.

He finally decides, but he orders a cheese pizza with a defeated sigh. You stare at blankly and then break out into laughter. He's too cute and you can't really deal with it well. He takes your laughter the wrong way and shoot a glare in your direction and you put your hands up defensively after you wipe a tear from your eye. "You just were looking at the menu so long with such concentration and you ordered cheese pizza and it was oddly cute-" you stop yourself there, your own cheeks growing as pink as your hair as you quietly order your pineapple pizza.

It's a quiet for a bit, and he's staring at you in disbelief with a cute blush and he's surprisingly the first one to break the silence. "Cute, huh?" he mused, but he wasn't really directly asking you. More like he was thinking out loud, but then he gives you a smile in return and you couldn't help but notice how contagious it was. You really have fallen pretty bad for this kid, but you don't mind one bit.

"Yeah. You're cute."

The rest of dinner went by smoothly. You engaged in friendly conversation and shared stupid jokes and you teased him again about his plain cheese pizza. But instead of glaring, he smiled and _attempted_ to glare but was obviously not successful in the slightest. You discussed what to do after dinner, and you threw out the idea of going to the hookah bar nearby. It was 18 and up, and though you have never done any sort of tobacco, you can assume that Tachimukai hasn't either.

But boy are you _wrong_.

The first time you inhaled it, you started coughing and he patted your back a bit which made you throw him a small smile. Now you wait to watch him go through what you just went through. It could give you an excuse to pat his back too, but to your surprise he inhaled and-exhaled with not problem. He even blew out smoke rings and you are at a loss for words. You probably look like a dork, and inexperienced loser, and here Tachimukai was here doing hookah like a pro.

He notices you pouting and laughs a bit, and you lightly punch his arm. You get used to it pretty quickly, though, thank goodness. The flavor you're smoking is strawberry and it's pretty good. You lean back a bit, inhaling again an exhaling with a laugh. You're having a good time even if you two and just sitting and enjoying each other's company. Before you can even tell what's going on, he's leaning in and breathing the citrus-scented smoke lightly in your face. His eyes are half-lidded and his face is close and before you can stop yourself, your lips brush against his.

Tonight couldn't get any better, you decide.


End file.
